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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Monday, August 3, 2015

Visiting PowellsWood Garden

Speaking of garden visiting, I was lucky enough to enjoy the company of California garden blogger and photographer Gerhard Bock a few weeks ago. He recently published a very nice post about my garden here. If you missed it on his blog and would like to see my garden through someone else's lens, click on over and check it out! Thank you Gerhard for making my garden look so good and for the more than kind words!

A couple of weeks ago, Alison and I went on the Federal Way Symphony garden tour and Alison suggested that we visit Powellswood while we were in the area. She'd visited before (see her post here.) She always has the best ideas!

"A Northwest pleasure garden tucked away in a Federal Way neighborhood, the three acres of PowellsWood are nestled against another thirty-five acres of native successional forest."

Can you believe that this gorgeous lawn is the parking lot?

Descending into the garden.

"A series of exquisite hedges help define several distinct garden rooms graced with more than a thousand varieties of trees, shrubs and perennials. The woodland and shade gardens in particular demonstrate how private landowners can use natural land features to develop stunning landscapes. The garden’s perennial borders thrive, the fruit of an extensive soil conservation project."

Entry Garden.

"When Monte and Diane Powell bought this property in 1993, it had been used for years as a dumping ground. The land was filled with piles of asphalt, concrete, old cars, used tires and other rubbish. Consequently, the soil was so sterile there were areas in which even weeds would not grow.
The first two years following the purchase of the land were spent rebuilding the soil so it would once more support healthy plant life."

Moving into the House Gardens.

Alison and I had arrived about an hour or so before a wedding and reception were to take place so this part of the garden looked a bit different than it would normally.

What a great party venue!

I think this is the "Spring Garden" but it's looking fabulous in the summer!

Mr. Powell purchased this property in 1993 and mulch testing and soil improvement began. A land developer for years, Mr. Powell wanted to give back to the community and started this garden in his fifties. He's still active and interested in the garden.

A curving staircase leads us by the rhododendron garden as we descent to the perennial border area.

The gorgeous perennial border area is on a much lower level and is breathtaking as it reveals itself after walking down through the rhododendron garden.

Notice that meticulously clipped hedge.

at the end of the expansive lawn the beds nearly come together leaving a grass path to explore more shade garden beyond.

Huge and happy patch of rodgersia in the shade garden!

Water loving fuchsia and hydrangea near the pond area.

The shade garden, as the path meanders along, becomes more and more wild naturalistic.

I think these are the Cold Creek Shade garden beds, the last to be planted in 2007 - 2008.

The shade garden ends in a huge circle of sword fern and (not shown) a large raised platform beneath the cathedral of old trees where the wedding was to take place.

The path becomes a walking trail through the woods but we didn't take advantage of that but instead walked up on the other side of the woodland garden.

You can see the roof of the house where the reception was set up.

Now we're back up to the entry area on our way back to the parking lot.

What a beautiful garden which, because of the multiple levels and inclusion of so many rooms, seems much larger than three acres!

I'm so glad you suggested we visit as it is really beautiful. Can't believe it's been so close all this time and I'd never visited. I want to go back again in various seasons and better light to see more!

This one and the previous one have brought me much relaxation and pleasure! I'm rather jealous of your forays and determined to find more local gardens to visit! I also want to find me some Rodgersia to see how it would fare in a few of my spaces.

I started off by reading Gerhard's post of his visit to your garden and, to quote Alan, "THIS is the view of Peter's garden that I've been waiting for!"; I really enjoyed it. Your bamboo grove is out of this world.Back to your post of this amazing venue: I love the descending steps into the garden (so elegant) and the shady planting under the fruit tree canopy. When will my Rogersia look so happy? That is how I view it my headI

Wow, wow and wow. Such a wonderful garden with so many glorious spaces. The transition between all of the varied areas looks very masterfully done (and of course the planting is impeccable). I think this I would be in seventh heaven if I owned such a space :-)

About Me

Why Outlaw Gardener? I like to break the rules of good taste, plant placement, and plant hardiness. Also, I have received periodic "love notes" from the city code enforcement officer telling me that my parking strip plants encroach on the city's right-of-way. When expressing my distress over the latest such notice, I exclaimed to my pal Loree (Danger Garden) "I'm an outlaw gardener!" To which she replied,"That would be a good name for a blog."
My first gardens were in Southeast Alaska (zone 3.)I do miss the beauty and community of small-town Alaska but I don't take for granted for a moment how wonderful it is to garden in zone 8.